How long does local SEO take to work?

Profile fixes can show up in weeks. New pages and reviews build over months. Consistency week to week matters more than one big push.

Do I need an agency for local SEO?

Not for the basics on this list. An agency adds strategy, links and PR. Our comparison of Doug and AI SEO agencies covers when that's worth it.

Is local SEO different for AI answers?

Mostly the same foundations: accurate listings, clear pages and reviews. AI assistants reward plain, specific answers they can quote.

Starter is $49 a month for 2,000 messages and includes the weekly get-found work. A done for you tier, where our team runs it, is priced when you talk to us.

The 2026 local SEO checklist for one afternoon

Local SEO in 2026 comes down to six fixes: a complete Google Business Profile, a page per service and per town, the same name, address and phone everywhere, steady reviews you reply to, business markup on your site, and checking whether ChatGPT and Gemini name you. An owner can finish this list in one afternoon.

Updated September 28, 2026

1. Is your Google Business Profile complete?

Your Google Business Profile carries the Maps result, and AI assistants read it too. Open it and check each of these:

Primary category is the one thing you most want to be found for ('Plumber', not 'Contractor'), plus a few accurate secondary categories.
Hours are right, including holiday hours.
Service area lists the towns you actually cover, if you go to customers.
Services are listed one by one, with short descriptions.
Real photos of your work, your team and your trucks or office.
Website link goes to the right page.

What does Doug do for your Google profile?

Doug checks your Google Business Profile every week and keeps it accurate, in step with what your website says. He flags anything that disagrees, like a phone number that changed on one and not the other.

2. Do you have a page for each service and each town?

Customers search for a service plus a place. A home page that lists everything rarely wins those searches. A page about the service, with the town on it and real details, often does.

One page per service you want more of: what it is, what it costs, how soon, common questions.
One page per town you really serve, with something true about that town. No copied pages with the name swapped.
Each page opens with a plain answer in the first two sentences.

What does Doug do for service and area pages?

Doug checks what people search for and which services and towns you're missing, then writes and publishes the pages from your own material to a Doug-run site or your WordPress site. Our guide to service area pages covers how to write them yourself if you'd rather.

3. Is your name, address and phone the same everywhere?

Search engines and AI assistants cross-check your business name, address and phone number (NAP) across the web. Old numbers, old addresses, or 'Smith Plumbing LLC' in one place and 'Smith Plumbing & Drain' in another make them less sure about you.

Search your business name and check the first two pages of results.
Claim and fix Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, the BBB, and the directories for your trade.
Fix hours and phone numbers on every listing you control.

What does Doug do for listings?

Doug flags directory listings you should claim and facts that disagree across the web, like old hours on one site and new hours on another, so you know exactly which ones to fix.

4. Are reviews coming in steadily, and do you reply?

Ask every customer for a Google review soon after the job, with a direct link, and reply to every review. No incentives and no asking only the happy ones. Our guide to getting more Google reviews has the wording.

Doug asks customers for a review after a booking and replies to reviews in your voice.

5. Does your website have business markup?

Business markup (schema, often LocalBusiness) is a short block of code that tells search engines and assistants your name, address, hours and services in a format they read directly. Many small business sites don't have it. You can check any page with Google's Rich Results Test.

Doug checks your site for missing business markup and drafts the snippet for you or your web person to paste in. Pages he publishes include it already.

6. Does ChatGPT recommend you?

Open ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini and ask what a customer would: 'Who's a good plumber in Round Rock?' If you're not named, look at who is and what they have that you don't. Usually it's clearer pages, more reviews and consistent listings. Our guides to getting recommended by ChatGPT and showing up in Google AI Overviews go deeper.

Doug asks those assistants your customers' questions every week, checks where you land on Google Maps, and sends a short weekly report of what changed and what he fixed. Start with the free ChatGPT visibility check to see where you stand today.

Questions

How long does local SEO take to work?: Profile fixes can show up in weeks. New pages and reviews build over months. Consistency week to week matters more than one big push.
Do I need an agency for local SEO?: Not for the basics on this list. An agency adds strategy, links and PR. Our comparison of Doug and AI SEO agencies covers when that's worth it.
Is local SEO different for AI answers?: Mostly the same foundations: accurate listings, clear pages and reviews. AI assistants reward plain, specific answers they can quote.
What does Doug cost?: Starter is $49 a month for 2,000 messages and includes the weekly get-found work. A done for you tier, where our team runs it, is priced when you talk to us.